The Gateway Connector project, which would have extended IL Route 158 from Interstate 55/70 and U.S. 40, has been shelved by the Illinois Department of Transportation. (Map courtesy of IDOT)

IDOT drops Gateway Connector corridor

A special “protection corridor,” established to reserve land for a major new north-south Metro-East roadway known as the Gateway Connector, has been officially abolished by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT).

While the IDOT website’s Gateway Connector page (www.idot.illinois.gov/projects/Gateway-Connector) does not indicate the department is cancelling the long-planned road project altogether, the abolishing of the protection corridor frees area property owners from, what many feel, have been unwarranted restrictions on the use of their land.

It also casts doubt on whether the IDOT plans to continue actively pursuing the corridor project, in light of extensive evidence submitted by area residents that demand for the new roadway is as great as indicated in official studies.

As envisioned, the Gateway Connector would extend IL Route 158 from the Interstate 55/70 and U.S. 40 interchange near Troy, in Madison County, south and west through St. Clair County to Interstate 255 near Columbia.

The protective corridor, roughly 37-miles long and one and two-miles wide, encompassed the areas that IDOT believe could ultimately be identified as the best route for the new roadway.

IDOT studies project growing traffic counts across the Metro-East and recommend development of a new north-south connector road. Planners have come to see the roadway as means or spurring economic development in the downtrodden eastern sections of Madison and St. Clair counties.

However, the project has for years been the target of outspoken opposition from a pair of grassroots organizations — the Citizens for Smart Growth and Stop 158.

Last week’s elimination of the Gateway Connector protective corridor came after legislation, sponsored by State Sen. Kyle McCarter (R-Lebanon), was enacted, requiring public hearings on road project protective corridors for that have remained in effect for 10 years.

During a pair of public hearing in O’Fallon and Columbia in 2015, representatives from Citizens for Smart Growth and Stop 158 presented lengthy documents question the need for the new roadway.

The groups also specifically called for repeal of the protective corridor, which they said effectively hinder property owners from using or developing land in area proposed for the roadway.

SIUE increases tuition

Tuition for new undergraduate students at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville will increase $420 as the result of a 5 percent increase approved by the SIU Board of Trustees Feb. 9. The tuition hike will take effect with the 2017-2018 academic years, according to a university news release. With the increase then annual tuition will be $8,772 for a new full-time undergraduate student. Undergraduate students currently in a guaranteed tuition plan will see no increase in their tuition.

The tuition increase comes as the university announced the second highest enrollment in its history.

Prairie Farms Dairy, Swiss Valley Farms merging

Two of the nation’s largest farmer-owned dairy operatives, Carlinville-based Prairie Farms Dairy and Davenport, Iowa-based Swiss Valley Farms, plan to merge effective March 31. Executives from the two cooperatives announced approval of the merger by members last week.

Headquartered in the new Prairie Farms complex, now under development in Edwardsville, the consolidated cooperative will retain Prairie Farms Dairy as its corporate name but continue to market products under both the Prairie Farms and Swiss Valley Farms brands.

Prairie Farms Dairy is one of the largest dairy cooperatives in the Midwest, with more than 600 farms, 5700 employees, 35 manufacturing plants, over 100 distribution facilities covering 30 percent of the U.S., and annual sales of over $3 billion.

Swiss Valley Farms markets products 400 dairy producers in Iowa, Wisconsin, Northern Illinois and Southern Minnesota.

The USDA ranks both among the top 100 agricultural cooperatives.

Olin cuts more jobs in East Alton

Clayton, Missouri-based Olin Corp. is cutting 17 more jobs from its ammunition plant in East Alton, Illinois, after laying off 180 last year. The company ultimately plans to relocate the entire ammunition operation to its Oxford, Mississippi, facility.

East St. Louis daycare preschool closing

The Catholic Day Care Center in East St. Louis has closed after 47 years of service.  The center was operated by the Sisters of Cordi-Marian, a San Antonio, Texas-based congregation of Hispanic religious women, who in 1970 were asked by then-Belleville Bishop Albert R. Zuroweste to open a women’s shelter in the city.  Eventually a day care center was added in the former St. Adalbert Catholic School at 617 Summit Ave.

Provincial leaders at the Sisters of Cordi-Marian Sister San Antonio cited declining enrollment resulting from economic decline, increased fees at the daycare reflecting increased per-student cost, and competition from a new public day care.  They also say facility director Sister Gema Juarez is needed to care for aging relatives in Texas

As recently as 2014, the daycare and preschool served 70 students a day.  The facility’s last day of operation was Dec. 23.

–Metro-East Area News Briefs–